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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Akron man killed in crash on his street
Browns find another way to lose
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
Blogs:
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Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Onion, By Any Other Name…
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
The narrow budgetary line that Barack Obama must walk
Published on Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
Thus, the president-elect highlighted his willingness ''to make some very difficult choices in how we get a handle'' on the deficit. How large of a shortfall will the Obama team face? On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office projected a deficit of $1.2 trillion this year, and that doesn't include the big stimulus package. Obama had in mind the stimulus covering two years. Cut the proposed sum in half, and you can add $400 billion to the projected annual deficit — for a total of $1.6 trillion.
That's far more than the $455 billion last year, the largest shortfall ever in dollar terms. As a percentage of the gross domestic product? The $1.6 trillion figures amounts to 8 percent of the overall economy, the largest percentage since the end of World War II. Yes, even larger than the huge deficit of the Reagan era, the 1983 shortfall hitting 6 percent.
The timing couldn't be worse, the country facing a string of deficits after the Bush White House presided over a doubling of the national debt and with retiring baby boomers now beginning to draw on programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (the nursing home component). The analysts at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities note that rising health-care costs will be the ''single largest cause'' of increased federal spending.
Thus, the ''very difficult'' course for the new president: He rightly wants to achieve universal coverage. He also must find ways to restrain health-care spending (in the public and private sectors).
At their December meeting, members of the Federal Reserve Board voiced concerns about a deepening recession, unemployment rising into 2010. Yes, pump ample and immediate money into the economy. In doing so, don't lose sight of the need for an exit strategy from the torrent of red ink.
Get the full article here.
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